HTML Entities Encoder & Decoder
Encode text so it cannot break your markup, decode entities back to characters, and look up the name and number of every common special character.
Runs in your browser. Encode escapes & < > " and ' so text cannot break your markup; decode turns every named or numeric reference back into its character.
and Other Spaces
is a non-breaking space (U+00A0): it looks like a space but a line never breaks there, which keeps "10 kg" or "Mr Smith" together. Several in a row also do not collapse into one, which is why it gets misused for layout.
For spacing, use CSS margin or padding instead: a row of breaks as soon as the font size or the screen width changes. Its narrower cousins are   (thin space) and   /   (en and em spaces).
What Are HTML Entities?
HTML entities are special codes used to display reserved characters and symbols in HTML. Characters like <, >, and & have special meaning in HTML, so you must use their entity equivalents to display them as text.
Each entity can be written two ways: as a named entity (e.g. &) or as a numeric entity (e.g. &). Named entities are easier to read; numeric entities have broader browser support.
How to Use HTML Entities
<!-- Using named entities -->
<p>5 < 10 & 10 > 5</p>
<!-- Using numeric entities -->
<p>Price: $9.99 (© 2025)</p>
<!-- Result rendered in browser -->
<!-- 5 < 10 & 10 > 5 -->
<!-- Price: $9.99 (© 2025) -->Common Symbols
| Symbol | Entity Name | Entity Number | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| & | & | & | Ampersand |
| < | < | < | Less than |
| > | > | > | Greater than |
| " | " | " | Double quotation mark |
| ' | ' | ' | Apostrophe (single quote) |
|   | Non-breaking space |
Currency Symbols
| Symbol | Entity Name | Entity Number | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| $ | $ | $ | Dollar sign |
| € | € | € | Euro sign |
| £ | £ | £ | Pound sign |
| ¥ | ¥ | ¥ | Yen / Yuan sign |
| ¢ | ¢ | ¢ | Cent sign |
| ₣ | ₣ | ₣ | French Franc sign |
| ₹ | ₹ | ₹ | Indian Rupee sign |
| ₿ | ₿ | ₿ | Bitcoin sign |
Mathematical Symbols
| Symbol | Entity Name | Entity Number | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| + | + | + | Plus sign |
| − | − | − | Minus sign |
| × | × | × | Multiplication sign |
| ÷ | ÷ | ÷ | Division sign |
| = | = | = | Equals sign |
| ≠ | ≠ | ≠ | Not equal to |
| ≤ | ≤ | ≤ | Less than or equal to |
| ≥ | ≥ | ≥ | Greater than or equal to |
| ± | ± | ± | Plus-minus sign |
| ∞ | ∞ | ∞ | Infinity |
| ≈ | ≈ | ≈ | Almost equal to |
| √ | √ | √ | Square root |
Arrows
| Symbol | Entity Name | Entity Number | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| ← | ← | ← | Left arrow |
| → | → | → | Right arrow |
| ↑ | ↑ | ↑ | Up arrow |
| ↓ | ↓ | ↓ | Down arrow |
| ↔ | ↔ | ↔ | Left-right arrow |
| ↵ | ↵ | ↵ | Carriage return arrow |
| ⇐ | ⇐ | ⇐ | Left double arrow |
| ⇒ | ⇒ | ⇒ | Right double arrow |
Typography & Punctuation
| Symbol | Entity Name | Entity Number | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | — | Em dash |
| – | – | – | En dash |
| « | « | « | Left double angle quotes |
| » | » | » | Right double angle quotes |
| … | … | … | Horizontal ellipsis |
| © | © | © | Copyright symbol |
| ® | ® | ® | Registered trademark |
| ™ | ™ | ™ | Trademark symbol |
| ‘ | ‘ | ‘ | Left single quotation mark |
| ’ | ’ | ’ | Right single quotation mark |
| “ | “ | “ | Left double quotation mark |
| ” | ” | ” | Right double quotation mark |
| · | · | · | Middle dot |
| ° | ° | ° | Degree sign |
| ¶ | ¶ | ¶ | Paragraph sign (pilcrow) |
| § | § | § | Section sign |
Quick Tips
- 1.Always escape
&,<, and>in HTML content to avoid parsing errors. - 2.Use
for non-breaking spaces to prevent unwanted line breaks between words. - 3.For UTF-8 encoded pages, you can type most symbols directly. Entities are mainly needed for reserved HTML characters and edge cases.
- 4.Unescaped entities are a common source of HTML validation errors. Run your code through a validator to catch them.
Validate Your HTML
Unescaped entities break your markup. Catch them instantly with our free validator.